Golf Outing At Weston Raises Funds For Child Care Learning Center

CELEBRATIONS - GOOD CAUSES

January 19, 1997|EILEEN SOLER Special to the Sun-Sentinel

A dozen golf enthusiasts got into the swing of things for a good cause at the Weston Hills Country Club during a promotional round of golf to encourage participation in a February fund-raising benefit for foster children.

``When I hear about an event to benefit disadvantaged kids, I'm there,'' Weston resident and avid golfer Patrick O'Hare said as he practiced his swing.

``And I have a large circle of friends who will gladly help, too,'' he said.

George Brown, director of nonprofit Christian Homes for Children Inc., which he founded in 1979, said he hopes to raise at least $70,000 during the Child Hope Community Golf Classic on Feb. 3 at the Weston course.

The Christian Homes agency in Hialeah finds foster homes for children who have been permanently removed from their natural parents.

The money, Brown said, will be used to expand academic tutoring programs and emotional counseling services conducted by the Child Hope Extra Mile Learning Center, a subsidiary of Christian Homes, for 65 children from 22 foster homes.

``The event will give people with a sense of caring and compassion the opportunity to come out and enjoy a day of golf to raise money for the sake of our kids, most of whom have been sexually, physically and/or mentally abused,'' Brown said.

Steve Rios, director of the learning center, said the golf classic will not be a tournament, but rather a sun-up to sun-down marathon in which golfers stand a chance to play more than 100 holes for pledges made by friends, family members or co-workers.

``The marathon is played by different rules,'' he said.

``You don't even have to get the ball in the hole all the time. If we get 70 golfers to play 100 holes pledged by 10 people at $1 each, we can raise $70,000 easy.''

Rios said statistics recently released by the Dade County grand jury show that 55 percent of boys and 36 percent of girls in foster care face academic failure.

``When they come to us, the cards are already stacked against them,'' Rios said, adding that since the inception of the Child Hope Learning Center three years ago, no child in a Christian Homes foster home has failed.

``In fact, we have honor roll students, students who play instruments and science award winners,'' Brown said.

Bobbie Jean Amat of Hialeah, recently adopted by her foster parents, Josefa and Domingo Amat, said she is grateful for the help she received at the learning center.

``I was doing bad in school, but at the learning center someone was always there with a smile and ready to help me,'' she said.

For more information about the golf classic or to make donations to Christian Homes for Children, call Rios at 305-825-0517.